New Year's celebrations take many forms, but most cultures have one thing【小题1】common—driving bad spirits away and wishing for a better new year. In China, one way 【小题2】(celebrate) the new year is Lion Dance. This is 【小题3】 traditional lively dance that combines art, history and culture. Two dancers form the lion. One holds the lion's head, while the other dancer forms the body and the tail of the lion.【小题4】(jump) to the rhythm of the drums and the gongs(锣)，they will perform many complex movements. According to the traditional Chinese 【小题5】(believe), loud music can frighten away the monster “Nian”, a Chinese legendary beast that would come out to attack【小题6】kill people during the New Year. Relief from the horrifying beast came only【小题7】people realized that Nian was scared of red color and loud noises. Actually, today the lion dance 【小题8】(perform) to usher in a new and prosperous year. “Caiqing” -a ritual(仪式)of the lion plugging in greens,【小题9】(enjoy) great popularity because it is believed to bring in good luck and wealth to the New Year. The Chinese word “Cai” is “plug”,【小题10】sounds like the word for wealth (pronounced “Cai” in Chinese).

The ancient art form—Peking Opera is the essence of Chinese culture, which shows traditional Chinese values, such as loyalty, modesty and honesty.

The saying about Peking Opera still rings true: one minute of performance 【小题1】 stage requires 10 years of practice offstage. This sums up the strict training 【小题2】 (require) for Peking Opera, which combines music, dance, drama, acrobatics and martial arts.

Nadim Diab, or Li Long as his Chinese name, a Lebanese who lives and works in Beijing, 【小题3】 (take) this saying to heart since he began to participate in a 100-day training program by 【小题4】 (profession) Peking Opera actors and actresses.

He started from zero to perform as a Peaking Opera actor, which was very difficult, such as leg stretching 【小题5】(exercise).

The 32-year-old Diab, 【小题6】 came to China in 2012 for his master’s degree at Tsinghua University, had his first encounter with Peking Opera a few years back when he watched a workshop online.

“Beauty and difficulty are two sides of 【小题7】 same coin in Peking Opera. When people go to watch a Peking Opera show, they expect 【小题8】(witness) a show like no other and they never walk away 【小题9】 (disappoint). Excellent performances are a guarantee in Peking Opera, 【小题10】 the behind-the-scenes workings are an untold story,” says Diab.

The best time to see beautiful lanterns is during the Lantern Festival, which 【小题1】(fall) on the 15^th day of the first lunar month. This year it is on Feb.8, marking the end of Spring Festival. 【小题2】, because of the COVID, we had to stay home this year.

As is known to us, 【小题3】(watch) lanterns is a great activity. You see lanterns in any sizes and shapes you can imagine, from animals to plants and flowers. People usually paste riddles on the lanterns, 【小题4】 makes the activity more fun.

In some places, people like releasing sky lanterns, which are called Kongming lanterns. A sky lantern is a small hot-air balloon made of paper with an opening at the bottom where there is 【小题5】 small fire source. When the bright lights fly high in the sky, people bless members and make 【小题6】(wish).

In old times, the Lantern Festival was also 【小题7】(interest). At that time, young girls were not allowed to go out very often except during certain festivals. Therefore, looking at lanterns gave young people a chance 【小题8】(meet) each other. A line from Xin Qiji, a poet during the Song Dynasty, 【小题9】(show) this: “Restless, I searched for her in thousands, hundreds of ways. Suddenly, I turned, and there 【小题10】(her) was in the receding light.”